Truth be told, Hanxing was bluffing. Although with his current lineup, he could still take down a Soaring Crane powered by the Spirit Extinguishing Bead, at the end of the day, the shriveled patriarch was a Spiritual Lord. Once he used the bead to force a flawed breakthrough into Divine Transformation, his battle-prowess would rise exponentially—making him a thorn in the side of the White Immortal sect’s elite.
But with no end of loot in sight, our monk couldn’t care for these, and left the White Immortal sect leaders to deal with the aftermath of Soaring Crane’s outburst. Thousands of Soaring Crane mountain disciples had perished in the White Immortal sect already. But the majority of the Li clan’s sons and daughters still lay in their homebase—hoping that their ancestral formations could preserve what remained of their faction. All Qi Refinement disciples—about 6,000 stayed behind as well.
The two Nascent Soul elders that stayed behind to maintain the beast summoning formation alongside thirteen Golden Core elders, cast their dejected eyes at the sky, wondering why it seemed so intent on dooming them to perdition. Still, they operated the summoning formation, desperately trying to sway the beast tide back into Dongli. In the process, they brought the ten-tailed white fox infinitely close to death. The white fox screamed, screamed and screamed some more—begging for them to stop. They wouldn’t. Thanks to their Beast Illumination Skill, the Soaring Crane mountain elders understood the meaning of each of the fox’s sounds perfectly, and yet they wouldn’t stop. To put their survival first, they shut their compassion out, filtered all they didn’t need, and focused on this pointless task.
As their elders redoubled their effort, the 1,800 Li clansmen that survived due to not being selected for the Spiritual Ark assault, and the thousands of Qi Refinement disciples, did the only thing they could do as helpless daoist cultivators: pray to the Heavens. Alas, the Heavens only answered to the divines. One such divine appeared in the sky, bringing alongside him an army 20,000-men strong. The soldiers rode golden clouds, mesmerizing chariots led the charge, awing and daunting in the same breath. The divine sat lazily on his palanquin, looking down on the Soaring Crane mountain, whose majestic birds cut their flight short to retreat within sect walls.
The arrival of this golden army brought the entire sect to its heels. From Qi Refinement to Nascent Soul, all the Li stared at the invading force, whose descent mirrored the dispatch of a celestial regiment.
“The Funerary Rite of the Grand Legion!” The Nascent Soul and Golden Cores’ eyes almost popped out of their sockets, for their knowledge of cultivation lore enabled them to recognize the Funerary Rite. Why was a formation lost in the Celestial Hall’s destruction now knocking on their doorstep? The answer followed nigh immediately.
“Ring the gong of war.” Xinzi ordered, and following a rhythm engraved in their brains by the array, the armored disciples slammed their axes against their shields. The metallic rhythm spread out, disturbing the defensive barrier that sheltered the Soaring Crane mountain. Tectonic plates struck one another. The ground shook, men lost their bearing, and alongside their women, cried for help.
The disturbance wouldn’t last for long, after all, under Lord Soaring Crane’s orders, the Li clan’s Golden Cores had already taken control of the defensive formation. A swift push neutralized the earthquake, but the mental impact left on the clansmen and disciples showed in their trembling faces. They didn’t want to fight.
Channeling his soldiers’ Spiritual Senses through the array, Xinzi swept the Soaring Crane mountain, assessing their numbers, strength and worth.
‘The Golden Cores are irrelevant and their defensive formation cannot compete with my Funerary Rite, but they still have two Nascent Souls. What a p…wait, a ten-tailed white fox? Mhm…these formation patterns, a ten-tailed white fox, they tried to summon a beast tide? Oooh, no wonder the old man isn’t around. Probably took care of that already. He must be pissed.’ Xinzi’s thoughts trailed off. And as he stroked his silky chin, his eyes narrowed at the ten-tailed white fox, whose struggles neared the end.
By relying on the Funerary Rite, Xinzi had nothing to fear from the Soaring Crane mountain’s two early-stage Nascent Souls. But he had no hope of killing them either. Some way, somehow, he had to lure them into self-destruction. His eyes narrowed at the ten-tailed fox. Xinzi could see that it was still in its infancy, likely about six years old. In ten-tailed fox age, that was a baby—a baby girl, specifically. Yet, its struggles could already inspire tales of their own.
‘Tusha, cast a spell to cover the day in darkness,’ using the unsuspecting Chun Xu as the intermediary, Xinzi contacted his nun, who obeyed without a word. A red flash of light rose from one of the chariots, and the Soaring Crane mountain’s noon sky vanished, swallowed in by an impromptu night.
This simple change of scenery inflicted more psychological damage on the Soaring Crane mountain disciples. Xinzi didn’t care for these, and with his eyes locked on the wailing white fox, connected to the trapped beast through a mental message.
‘Child, do you want to live?’ Xinzi asked in a gentle and soothing tone. The wobbling fox raised its red eyes, seeking the origin of the voice that offered it a way out. The most unusual species of mysterious beasts, White Foxes could communicate mentally with any other species, regardless of language barriers. Some didn’t even see them as mysterious beasts, but instead, fallen spirits cursed by the Gods for unknown sins.
‘Y-yes.’ The fox didn’t ask why or who. The spark of its life could die out anytime soon, so it only had one thing to say: yes. Xinzi nodded in approval and closed his eyes.
‘Then I will give you a chance. My name is Hengye Zhen. The Zhen of the Night Pantheon. With your tenth tail as the token of this trade, offer your soul to my divine name. Accept my blessing, and regardless of what you suffer today, you’ll still live to see the morrow.’ Xinzi offered, prompting a wave of confusion and suspicion in the fox, who had to process so much, so fast.
‘I know that you have been misled and mistreated by humans. But human I am not. And under the glory of the Night, no mortal can hinder my blessings. Be not afraid, accept, and not only will you escape this tribulation. But from here on, a radiant future will open up for you.’ As the mental exchange went on, the White Fox weakened. Xinzi’s voice soothed her fears and the realization that this was the only path she had left slapped her doubts out of the way.
‘D-divine lord…I a-agree.’ Barely had the fox’s mental message reached Xinzi that pitch black lightning coursed through the night sky. Blinding divine light flashed in our monk’s eyes, and one black bolt of lightning dropped from the night—slamming into the white fox.
The lightning made no noise, caused no damage, seeped past the white fox’s fur and embedded itself in its soul. To the Soaring Crane mountain elders’ shock, the fox’s tenth tail fell, making their formation, whose entire existence relied on that tail, break down instantly.
“AAAAAAARGH!” The abrupt malfunction sent berserk waves of energy to rampage through the 15 formation masters’ bodies—the two Nascent Souls included. They flew into opposed directions and went into shock. Subsequently, the white fox drew its last breath. And as its eyes closed, it wondered if even the divine had deceived it as well. The white fox’s body fell alongside the tenth tail. But before both could hit the ground, divine light wrapped them both, teleporting them towards Xinzi.
‘You’ve done well, girl. For now, your tenth tail will stay with me. In any case, to the current you, it is a curse more than a blessing. When the time is right, I will return it to you. In the meantime go, your new life awaits. But never forget. From this day henceforth, your body and soul belong to the Zhen of the Night Pantheon. Those blessed by my divine name cannot be harmed by mortals—less they trigger a heavenly tribulation. Enjoy your new life, but keep your allegiance at heart.’ Though the fox wouldn’t hear them now, Xinzi’s words imprinted themselves in her soul. Her body broke down into dark light particles, then vanished from the scene—re-materializing in an unknown location.
The tenth tail rushed into Xinzi’s storage ring and settled within. Still, the fifteen formation masters spasmed. Blood poured out of their eyes, nose, mouth and pores. Dark clouds formed above them, Heaven’s punishment for offending a blessed individual. But as this went on, Xinzi’s body paled, cracks spread across his right arm, and though he bit his lower lips to let nothing transpire, blood filled his mouth. Fighting his failing body, our monk swallowed the blood—his eyes went bloodshot.